The 16 most infamous crimes in Bay Area history

November 11, 2013 |Kevin Fagan & Katie Dowd

UPI/The Chronicle

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In 1955, Jim Jones opened his first Peoples Temple in Indianapolis. Two decades later, he would lead his congregation — made up of hundreds of Bay Area residents — to commit one of the most horrifying acts of mass suicide in history.

Jones arrived in California in the 1960s and immediately began to grow his flock. His first church was located in Ukiah. He soon added a large church in Redwood Valley and took over an old synagogue on Fillmore Street in San Francisco.

At first things were good: The racially integrated church drew praise from local politicians. But then news of Jones’ tyrannical reign over his congregation began to leak. Jones and his followers fled to a compound in the jungles of Guyana. In November 1978, Congressman Leo Ryan of San Mateo, a group of reporters and worried family members landed at Jonestown to investigate. Ryan and four others were shot dead on the airstrip.

Warning of an impending slaughter, Jones coerced the members of Jonestown to drink poisoned punch. Nine hundred and eighteen people died.
Today, a memorial in Oakland’s Evergreen Cemetery marks the spot where over 400 people who died at Jonestown are buried in a mass grave.

In 1955, Jim Jones opened his first Peoples Temple in Indianapolis. Two decades later, he would lead his congregation — made up of hundreds of Bay Area residents — to commit one of the most horrifying acts of mass suicide in history.

Jones arrived in California in the 1960s and immediately began to grow his flock. His first church was located in Ukiah. He soon added a large church in Redwood Valley and took over an old synagogue on Fillmore Street in San Francisco.

At first things were good: The racially integrated church drew praise from local politicians. But then news of Jones’ tyrannical reign over his congregation began to leak. Jones and his followers fled to a compound in the jungles of Guyana. In November 1978, Congressman Leo Ryan of San Mateo, a group of reporters and worried family members landed at Jonestown to investigate. Ryan and four others were shot dead on the airstrip.

Warning of an impending slaughter, Jones coerced the members of Jonestown to drink poisoned punch. Nine hundred and eighteen people died.
Today, a memorial in Oakland’s Evergreen Cemetery marks the spot where over 400 people who died at Jonestown are buried in a mass grave.